Belgium's group-stage exit at the 2022 World Cup was a shock to the system for the Red Devils, who had reached at least the quarter-finals of their previous four major tournaments.
A laboured 1-0 win over Canada, who missed a penalty, was followed by a 2-0 defeat to Morocco and a goalless draw with Croatia, signalling the end of Roberto Martinez's time as Belgium boss.
Expectations are lower than they were when the so-called golden generation led by Kevin De Bruyne, Romelu Lukaku and the now-retired Eden Hazard were in their pomp.
But Martinez's successor Domenico Tedesco kicked off his reign with a 3-0 win away to Sweden in Euro 2024 qualifying and a 3-2 friendly victory over Germany in March 2023.
Former RB Leipzig coach Tedesco oversaw an unbeaten qualifying campaign in which Belgium won all four of their away fixtures and thumped Estonia and Azerbaijan 5-0 at home.
England needed a 95th-minute goal from Jude Bellingham to salvage a 2-2 friendly draw against Belgium at Wembley in March and, while Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois is a notable absentee, the Red Devils squad is packed with talent.
Prolific striker Lukaku has been playing regularly for Roma, Arsenal's Leandro Trossard and RB Leipzig striker Lois Openda are classy attacking options, and an exciting new generation is emerging.
Attacking midfielder Johan Bakayoko and Charles De Ketelaere, Everton enforcer Amadou Onana and Atletico Madrid teenager Arthur Vermeeren were all in the squad for the March internationals and Belgium are solid favourites to win Group E.
They had a ruthless group-stage record at recent tournaments before flopping in Qatar and Romania are worth backing to complete the straight forecast.
Like Belgium, they went through qualifying unbeaten, finishing five points clear of Switzerland in Group I and conceding only five goals in ten matches.
They signed off their campaign with impressive wins against Israel (2-1) and the Swiss (1-0) and their team ethos could serve them well at the finals.
Few members of Romania's squad play for high-profile clubs – Tottenham centre-back Radu Dragusin is an exception – and their 16 goals in qualifying were shared between ten different players.
However, their defensive strength may be enough to secure second place in the group ahead of Ukraine and Slovakia.
It is likely to be a tight section as outsiders Slovakia's only defeats in ten qualifying games came against a powerful Portugal side while Ukraine finished level on points with European champions Italy in England's group.
They scored twice in the last five minutes to beat Bosnia 2-1 in the playoff semi-final and needed an 84th-minute winner from Chelsea's Mykhailo Mudryk to edge past Iceland in the final.
Striker Artem Dovbyk has had a great season for Girona in La Liga but Mudryk and Arsenal's Oleksandr Zinchenko were less impressive in the Premier League.
Ukraine may have to settle for third place behind Belgium and Romania while Newcastle's Martin Dubravka is likely to have a busy time in goal for Slovakia.
Euro 2024
